Spectrum ArtWorks

Spectrum ArtWorks is a non-profit visual art organization in the heart of Minneapolis that provides studio space and community for artists living with a mental illness. In addition to producing amazing art, Spectrum ArtWorks artists work to educate the public about mental illness and in doing so break down the stigma associated with the disease.

Artists are often asked to explain and excuse themselves. A black artist, a woman artist, a gay artist…If an artist is not a straight white man then their identity (their little box, their label) is often presumed to be what their art is about. Artists living with a mental illness are often faced with issues of identity beyond what other artists belonging to other marginalized groups must face due in part to societal myths linking art and “madness”. For the Spectrum ArtWorks artists this issue has become even more complicated as we find ourselves having success as individual artists and as a group. Organizations ask us to display our art in order to reduce the stigma of mental illness by showing the amazing creative capabilities people with disabilities can have. We love that our art is in demand and we are all about reducing stigma, however we are artists first. We have always been artists. Discussions of identity come up a lot among artists living with mental illness. As artists living with mental illness, we, like other marginalized groups, have faced the challenge of defining our own identities in a world that is constantly labeling us. Often people without mental illness assume that we all identify strongly as such, and that this is the whole of who we are. They may assume that our art will always be about mental illness especially when we chose to display our work in a show as a group. But, in fact, there is great diversity in how artists with mental illness define themselves. Most of us have more than one thing that makes up our identity - disability, sexual orientation, race, religion, gender, and so on. Artists living with a mental illness have a whole range of ideas about the connections between having a mental illness and making art.

Many people say that just being an artist living with a mental illness is a very political position to be in. Of course, not all artists with a mental illness feel compelled to express any social or political ideas in their art. It’s almost impossible for a person with a mental illness not to develop some degree of political consciousness. So it may only be a question, for artists with mental illness, of how much that consciousness is separated from - or connected to - their art.

At the Spectrum ArtWorks Studio, in our efforts to reduce the stigma of mental illness through various arts programming and activities we started to become more aware of the history of mental illness, of the disability rights movement and our connection/lack of connection to it and because we are artists, because we came together through our shared experience as artists living with a mental illness, we saw art as a the thread that wove these histories together.

In preparation for our timeline we have explored:

Treatment: Beginning in prehistoric times with the trepanation (drilling a hole in the head of the afflicted to allow the spirits to escape) to mass institutionalization, to mass unprepared release of institutionalized individuals, the drugs used, their side effects (often thought to be standard symptoms of severe mental illness) and finally to some of the amazing and very recent advancements in medication for the most severe of symptoms. Side effects of these new medications (average 60 pound weight gain on some), issues of availability and access (both to the drugs and to professionals who can prescribe them) and the lack of research funding compared to other diseases with comparable societal impact.

Disability Rights Movement: It wasn’t until 1973 that the Rehabilitation Act is passed (with Congress overriding a Nixon veto) that prohibits discrimination in federal programs of people with disabilities. However as early as 1850 deaf people were organizing to advocate for their interests. There is a rich history of people with different disabilities that have banded together to demand their full rights. Where do people living with mental illness fit into the disability rights movement? Why did rights protection and advocacy services for the mentally ill not become a part of federal law until 1985? Where are we at in terms of equal rights and protections?

Art: Art and Mental illness. Are they linked? The Spectrum ArtWorks artists, individually and as a group unequivocally deny, and are offended by, the idea that their disease (mental illness) should take any credit for their talents. However, it is equally understood and accepted that art and the process of art-making is a powerful healing tool that has helped many (mentally ill and not, artists and nonartists alike) get through difficult times. Exploring the common experience of having been exposed to “art therepy” or “occupation therapy” as part of a treatment program has been been a bonding experience for Spectrum ArtWorks artists. It has also been a springboard for conversation about art and healing, about patient rights, full socital integration, infantilization of adults with mental disabilities, the effectiveness of treatment and hospitalization and what it means to be an artist living with a mental illness.